Re: Reflections on Creed

Originally Posted by the_good_life

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A good perfume, like a complex recipe or serious poetry requires time and attention and an open mind.
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This has been my story. Because I did not transition to niche through Creed (having tried several other niche houses first), I got off to a rocky start with Creed. Like my youthful days as the class cut-up, giggling at classical literature, I was initially unimpressed by Creed. I thought the various Creed scents were too similar. In reality, I was too early in my perfumistic career to understand the "house effect" which - in the same way as an author's style - provides continuity within almost every house. I expected that Creed's "reputation", even if hyperinflated, would still be evidenced by some kind of obvious "wow" factor. I didn't realize that I was operating under an illusion - the expectation that I would not have to make any effort to find true meaning. And finally, I expected that my neophyte sensibilities would not fundamentally change, as I sampled more and more scents other than Creed. Wrong again. Ironically, it was trying many other things that made me begin to differentiate and appreciate the Creeds.

With time, attention, and an open mind, I can now accept that Creed is a rightful member of the core group of quality designer and niche perfume houses. Creed fragrances have their own style, range, and relationships to other scents. Some Creeds - particularly the older, lighter, and citrus - are among my favorites. They are an essential part of my scent library. My feelings toward Creed scents will likely continue to evolve with time. I just hope that I continue to get as much enjoyment from them in the coming years, as I am getting now!

Re: Reflections on Creed

To Creed or not to Creed? I have the following solution for you people: just carry up a simple blind product / round robin test.

1. Take any Creed
2. Take any designer's brand

Now, scents have to be similar.

Conditions:

Participants must not wear any fragrance, not see the original brands, must try both samples. There should be an interval between trials, say ten minutes.

After trying:

1. Ask which sample is Creed
2. Ask which is not
2. Which one they prefer.

Add up, arrive to a conclusion.

Inferences: if they prefer Creed, OK, it is the product. If they don't, blame it to branding activities.

I do these sort of exercises while lecturing on product development, and it is way fun. Fans can't believe how biased their organoleptic perceptions can be.

Unfortunately, I don't think really works that much in the professional fragrance world as it might with something else. Unless they WANT to be a knockoff, no one strives for a "similar" fragrance. Take MI and Sean John's Unforgivable. While MI came earlier and a lot of people around these boards say that since it was Diddy's favorite cologne that Unforgivable might have been inspired by it, they don't smell alike to me at all. I would compare Unforgivable more to Wall Street, but even then the similarities might just stay in the top notes and veer off in different directions from there. I don't think Creed's scents smell completely like anything else (same goes for other companies) - you can't do a "Coke" test with them.

Re: Reflections on Creed

I very much agree with this thread. There are only a very few Creeds that I have, but I think the difference is (at least with me) that the creeds that I do have, I Love. There are some that I just don't "get" and some that are so fleeting that I could not spend money for.

Re: Reflections on Creed

My current Creed line-up consists of:

SMW
OV
OS
HIM

I sold my GIT, I was just "done" with it. I wear SMW and HIM the most often. WIth colder weather coming, OS will get more play, as will HIM. OV is just a little "stuffy" to me, better for business probably.

That is all the Creed I currently need. It's still a great house, I have found my "keepers" from it.

Re: Reflections on Creed

Originally Posted by ChuckW

I sold my GIT, I was just "done" with it. I wear SMW and HIM the most often. WIth colder weather coming, OS will get more play, as will HIM. OV is just a little "stuffy" to me, better for business probably.

That is all the Creed I currently need. It's still a great house, I have found my "keepers" from it.

Your GIT found a loving new home I think I should revisit the other Creeds I tried and dismissed at first, particularly Himalaya, OS and OV.

Also, does anybody know of a source to procure a sample of Fuelle Verte? This stuff has all but disappeared from the face of the Earth.

Re: Reflections on Creed

Originally Posted by bbBD

Can you give example of which Creeds you put against which designer offerings?

I would love to answer to your question but.. Creed is unavailable locally. Please, take in mind I am proposing an exercise on order to infer wether perceptions are brand or product based. On the other hand, be sure that in case of being able, I would spend a whole day analyzing all of Creed's line.

Originally Posted by akshay03

Unfortunately, I don't think really works that much in the professional fragrance world as it might with something else. Unless they WANT to be a knockoff, no one strives for a "similar" fragrance. Take MI and Sean John's Unforgivable. While MI came earlier and a lot of people around these boards say that since it was Diddy's favorite cologne that Unforgivable might have been inspired by it, they don't smell alike to me at all. I would compare Unforgivable more to Wall Street, but even then the similarities might just stay in the top notes and veer off in different directions from there. I don't think Creed's scents smell completely like anything else (same goes for other companies) - you can't do a "Coke" test with them.

I agree: if I were Mr. Creed I would not develop fragrances the same way Coca Cola works in their products. Moreover, I would make a huge effort in designing 100 % original scents.

However, perceptions are quite tricky. Since they are so, there are tools used in order to asses if these perceptions are a by product of branding or not.

Last edited by Pollux; 20th October 2008 at 06:05 PM.
Reason: Orthography and inclusion of reply

Re: Reflections on Creed

When I first discovered Creed, say 3 or so years ago, I had a naive impression that it was THE house and that all its fragrances were unrivaled. The first Creed I tried was Cypres-Musc and I fell in love with it. In reflection, what an odd place to start! Then I started sampling others; nearly all the masculines and unisex ones. It was a revelation to me that the majority of them produced either indifference or disappointment (as I have now found is the case with virtually every house with a decent size line). When the dust settled, the following were the ones I liked enough to buy:

I don't think I like any of the others enough to justify a purchase. The one that tempts me some is Baie de Genièvre, but I would use it so sparingly that I can't justify a bottle. Perhaps a 10 ml decant someday.

These were folks who don't wear fragrance at all and thought the whole experiment was absurd.

Interesting... but there are a lot of things not taken into account on this (not to knock your efforts or anything, just making discussion). For one, they were probably just basing things off the top notes. The top notes of BdP are HORRIBLE to me. The base notes was where that particular fragrance excelled. Same goes for OV (though I'm surprised people found Mugler better... it's good, but not better IMO). Himalaya I can pretty much agree with, though I would compare it to Chanel's PE.

Another thing - a fragrance should be rated for everything: longevity and silage in addition to just the scent. Now some might say that longevity is definitely not Creed's strong point, but if you take OV vs Mugler Cologne, you'll start to see some stark differences. OV lasts all day on me, and MC lasts about 2 hours. What's the point of buying something if you can't enjoy it all day? The reverse can be said if you compare, say Himalaya with PE. Obviously you can't conduct a test like this unless it's a whole day affair. Even then, it is subjective - what about skin chemistry?

Again, I'm not saying Creed > everything, I'm just trying to point out the fallacies of such a test being done in the fragrance world.

Re: Reflections on Creed

aside from the obvious GIT/Cool Water copycat scheme going on at Creed......THE WORST bit of plagiarism has occurred with Paco Rabanne XS (1993) and Creed Himalaya (2005).....in which case Paco Rabanne XS conquers the big ugly niche with a better scent, more oomph, and a much cheaper price. Plagiarism at its worst...and failing.

Re: Reflections on Creed

At the end nothing beats Creed...I tried so many fragrances...I also like Bond´s (only Hamptons and Wall Street)...I´m a young person...so the heavy scents are not for me...maybe some year later :-)
What I like about Creed...there are not in your face scent...always smooth and elegant. Maybe some basenoter think the scent disappear, but its not...